Spatchcock Chicken with Charred Peppers, Mint and Olives

23 Feb 2021

Spatchcock Chicken with Charred Peppers, Mint and Olives

1 Hour 10 Minutes | easy | Serves 4

Spatchcocking a chicken means removing the backbone so that the bird sits flat and cooks more evenly. It’s a great method for the BBQ. You could make it spicier by adding cayenne or fresh chillies to the marinade, if that’s your thing.

Ingredients

  • 1 chicken, approx 1.5kg in weight
  • Zest and juice of 1 lemon
  • 3 cloves garlic, crushed or grated
  • 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
  • 1 tablespoon neutral oil
  • Handful mint leaves, chopped
  • 2 red peppers
  • 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 15 olives
  • ½ teaspoon sugar

Directions

1.

Combine

Combine the lemon zest and juice, crushed garlic, smoked paprika, neutral oil and some salt in a bowl.

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2.

Spatchcock the chicken

Spatchcock the chicken by using strong scissors to cut up either side of the spine and remove it.

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3.

Turn the bird

Turn the bird over and push down firmly to flatten it.​​​​​​​

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4.

Rub the marinade

Rub the marinade all over the chicken and refrigerate for 1 hour.​​​​​​​

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5.

Light 2 gas burners on the Jupiter Outback BBQ and when it’s hot, place the chicken skin side up on the opposite side of the grill, legs facing towards the flames. Make sure the chicken is offset but not too far away from the lit burners.​​​​​​​

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.

Remove them and close the lid on the grill

Place the 2 red peppers on the grill directly over the flames and cook until blackened all over – around 5-10 minutes. Remove them and close the lid on the grill.​​​​​​​

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7.

Cover the peppers

Cover the peppers tightly and set aside for 5 minutes – this will help their skins come off easily.​​​​​​​

8.

Remove the skins

Remove the skins, seeds and stalks from the peppers.

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9.

Dice them into strips

Dice them into strips and combine with the mint, olives, red wine vinegar, extra virgin olive oil and some salt.​​​​​​​

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10.

Keep a close eye on it

Once the chicken has been cooking for around 1 hour (or has reached an internal temperature of around 72C), move it to the hot side of the grill for a couple of minutes, to crisp up the skin. Keep a close eye on it – when the skin is crisp, remove it and rest.​​​​​​​

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11.

Serve the chicken

Serve the chicken with the pepper salad.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Recipe Author

Recipe Author

Helen Graves

Helen Graves is an award-winning recipe, food and travel writer with a particular interest in barbecue. She writes freelance for many major food and drink publications and is editor of Pit, the UK's first independent magazine about live-fire cooking. Helen has created a series of exclusive recipes for Outback that focus on maximising flavour for the home cook using lots of spices, fresh herbs and BBQ techniques.

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